TONY'S ONLINE TIPSThe After-Poll Report (02/26/02)
Welcome to the latest addition to the TONY'S TIPS website. As you may or may not know, this is my online home three days a week. On Saturday, I reprint my COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE columns in something akin to a "director's cut" and then add about a thousand words of new material to that reprint. On Sunday, on the TONY POLLS page, I post ten new questions on comic books, movies, television, and anything else I think might be interesting or fun. That brings us to today's feature.

Starting today, and on every Tuesday thereafter, I'll be using this space to bring you the final results of the questions from the previous week...and my comments on those results. I'll also...and this part is dependent on you...be presenting your comments on the various questions. For this premiere installment of THE AFTER-POLL REPORT, you get two batches of results from questions active during the weeks of February 10 and 17.

Let's get down to business, shall we?

******

The February 10 questions were geared towards determining what the participants wanted to see from the TONY POLLS page. Here are those results...

HOW MANY QUESTIONS SHOULD WE POST EACH WEEK?

Ten.....62 votes (51.67%)

Five.....29 (24.17%)

Six.....13 (10.83%)

Eight.....8 (6.67%)

Seven.....4 (3.33%)

Three.....3 (2.50%)

Four.....1 (.83%)

Since over half of the voters wanted ten new questions per week and another 20% wanted more than five, I've decided to go with ten for the immediate future. Now that could change if I run out of ideas and-hint, hint-none of you send me suggestions for poll questions.

******

DO YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT CURRENT COMIC BOOKS?

Yes.....107 votes (90.68%)

No.....11 (9,32%)

DO YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT OLDER COMIC BOOKS?

Yes.....109 votes (96.46%)

No.....4 (3.54%)

DO YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT COMIC-BOOK CREATORS?

Yes.....107 votes (93.86%)

No.....7 (6.14%)

WOULD YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT COMIC STRIPS?

Yes.....72 votes (64.29%)

No.....40 (35.71%)

DO YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT CURRENT TV SHOWS?

Yes.....76 votes (67.86%)

No.....36 (32.14%)

DO YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT OLDER TV SHOWS?

Yes.....84 votes (77.78%)

No.....24 (22.22%)

WOULD YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT MOVIES?

Yes.....87 votes (79.82%)

No.....22 (20.18%)

WOULD YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT MUSIC?

No.....58 votes (53.21%)

Yes.....51 (46.79%)

WOULD YOU ENJOY QUESTIONS ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS?

Yes.....75 votes (68.81%)

No.....34 (31.19%)

Posting ten questions each week makes variety a necessity. These questions gave me a pretty good idea where your interests lie and I was guided by the results in preparing the questions I posted the following week. In other words, the boring part of this report is over and now we can get to the fun stuff.

******

The questions for February 17 were my attempt to touch on all those areas in which the voters had expressed interested.

WHICH OF THESE DEFUNCT COMICS PUBLISHERS (PRE-1970) IS YOUR FAVORITE?

EC.....26 votes (21.14%)

Charlton.....20 (16.26%)

Gold Key/Western.....18 (14.63%)

Fawcett.....12 (9.76%)

Harvey.....11 (8.94%)

Dell.....10 (8.13%)

Tower.....10 (8.13%)

Warren.....8 (6.50%)

Quality.....4 (3.25%)

Fiction House.....1 (.81%)

Skywald.....1 (.81%)

Other.....2 (1.63%)

I won't quibble with those who voted for EC Comics, whose influence on comics continues to this day, but I didn't experience that company's magic first hand. As a pre-teen, I read mostly DC and Harvey. As a teenager, I read DC, Marvel, Charlton, Gold Key, Tower, and Warren. However, when it came time to select just one blast from my past, I realized that, outside of DC and Marvels, it was the new issues of CREEPY and EERIE I eagerly anticipated each month. There weren't many writers as good as Archie Goodwin, and his scripts seemed to bring out the best in artists who were easily among the best in the field. That's why Warren Publications got my vote in this category.

******

WHICH OF THESE DEFUNCT COMICS PUBLISHERS (POST-1970) IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Eclipse.....20 votes (15.38%)

First.....19 (14.62%)

Gladstone.....18 (13.85%)

Kitchen Sink.....16 (12.31%)

Comico.....15 (11.54%)

Malibu.....9 (6.92%)

Valiant.....7 (5.38%)

Innovation.....5 (3.85%)

Pacific.....5 (3.85%)

Atlas/Seaboard.....3 (2.31%)

Now.....2 (1.54%)

Renegade.....2 (1.54%)

Tundra.....2 (1.54%)

Mirage....1 (.77%)

Tekno.....1 (.77%)

Topps.....1 (.77%)

Other.....4 (3.08%)

There were lots of excellent choices here, as witness the closeness of the results. I considered voting for either Gladstone or Kitchen Sink, but I ended up casting the lone ballot for Topps Comics. It was personal; I loved working for editor Jim Salicrup and no one ever wrote me a bigger check than Topps did for SATAN'S SIX #1. I lived off that check for almost a year, the only taste

I ever got of the stupid money that was floating around the comics industry during the speculator craze.

******

THESE WERE THE TOP 19 COMICS FOR SEPTEMBER 2001, AS RANKED BY DIAMOND. WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Green Arrow #8.....26 votes (18.84%)

Amazing Spider-Man #35.....21 (15.22%)

Avengers #46.....16 (11.59%)

JLA #58.....12 (8.70%)

Ultimate Spider-Man #13.....11 (7.97%)

New X-Men #118.....9 (6.52%)

Daredevil: Yellow #4.....7 (5.07%)

G.I. Joe #1.....3 (2.17%)

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #8.....3 (2.17%)

Wolverine: Origin #1.....2 (1.45%)

X-Treme X-Men #5.....2 (1.45%)

Fury #1.....1 (.72%)

Uncanny X-Men #398.....1 (.72%)

Cyclops #2.....0

Elektra #3.....0

Punisher #4.....0

Ultimate X-Men #10.....0

Wolverine #168.....0

X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land #1.....0

Didn't like/read any of them.....24 (17.39%)

I only read three of the comics on this list and so didn't feel qualified to vote in this category. But I am truly horrified that someone voted for a piece of crap like FURY #1.

******

This one is for John Byrne fans. Which of these featured your favorite Byrne work?

Fantastic Four.....41 votes (31.30%)

Uncanny X-Men.....21 (16.03%)

Batman/Captain America.....13 (9.92%)

Superman & Batman: Generations.....11 (8.40)

She-Hulk.....7 (5.34%)

Alpha Flight.....6 (4.58%)

John Byrne's Next Men.....6 (4.58%)

Superman.....6 (4.58%)

Iron Fist.....5 (3.82%)

Man of Steel.....5 (3.82%)

Marvel Team-Up.....3 (2.29)

Namor.....3 (2.29%)

Wonder Woman.....1 (.76%)

X-Men: The Hidden Years.....1 (.76%)

Other.....2 (1.53%)

This was another tough call for me. I could have gone with Fantastic Four, She-Hulk, or Uncanny X-Men, but, as much as I love Byrne's work on all those books, I don't think I ever got as big a kick out of his work as I did when I read BATMAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA. So that's what got my vote.

I did receive an amusing e-mail from some anonymous jerk I've seen posting on a message board not my own. It was full of rancor towards Byrne and also towards myself for daring to put forth this question and not one concerning said jerk's comics idol. Well, cry me a freaking river.

I think Byrne is as worthy of this question as anyone working in comics today. I happen to think highly of the creator the jerk worships, but, for all that creator's accomplishments, he doesn't yet have the credits that Byrne does. In fact, there were another dozen Byrne works I could have included as choices if our polling format allowed for more than 20 possibilities.

I'll get around to other creators in future polls, including the one I allegedly "slighted" this time around. In the meantime, assuming the anonymous jerk is reading this column, I'd really like to see a list of *his* accomplishments in the field. My guess is they amount to a big fat zero.

******

WHICH OF THESE ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED MOVIES DO YOU THINK WILL GET THE OSCAR?

A Beautiful Mind.....76 votes (61.29%)

Lord of the Rings/Fellowship of the Ring.....32 (66.94%)

Moulin Rouge.....8 (6.45%)

Gosford Park.....5 (4.03%)

In the Bedroom.....3 (2.42%)

WHICH OF THESE ACADEMY-NOMINATED MOVIES DO YOU *WANT* TO GET THE OSCAR?

Lord of the Rings/Fellowship of the Ring.....81 votes

(66.94%) Moulin Rouge.....14 (11.57%)

Gosford Park.....7 (5.79%)

A Beautiful Mind.....5 (4.13%)

In the Bedroom.....2 (1.65%)

Didn't like/see any of them.....12 (9.92%)

I didn't see any of these films, but, were I a betting man, I'd go with A BEAUTIFUL MIND for the Oscar. I took the "didn't see any of them" option in the second question.

******

WHICH OF THESE NOMINATED ANIMATED FEATURES DO YOU THINK WILL GET THE OSCAR?

Shrek.....101 votes (88.60%)

Monsters, Inc.......13 (11.40%)

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.....0

WHICH OF THESE NOMINATED ANIMATED FEATURES DO YOU *WANT* TO GET THE OSCAR?

Shrek.....58 votes (51.79%)

Monsters, Inc......30 (26.79%)

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.....0

Didn't like/see any of them?.....24 (21.43%)

I went with SHREK for both of these questions. I think it has just enough meanness of spirit, much of it directed at Disney, to resonate with the voters.

******

WHICH OF THESE IS YOUR FAVORITE STAR TREK CAPTAIN?

Kirk.....50 votes (38.17%)

Picard.....38 (29.01%)

Sisko.....22 (16.79%)

Archer.....13 (9.92%)

Janeway.....8 (6.11%)

I went with Sisko because I think he's the most intriguing of the captains. Kirk could be an arrogant bully and a womanizer, but Sisko had an authentic dark side as shown when the Federation went to war on his watch. The last seasons of DEEP SPACE NINE are the best in the entire history of the franchise.

******

WHICH PRIME-TIME ANIMATED TV SERIES IS YOUR FAVORITE?

Jonny Quest.....30 votes (22.22%)

Bullwinkle.....19 (14.07%)

Futurama.....17 (12.59%)

King of the Hill....17 (12.59%)

Bugs Bunny Show.....14 (10.37%)

Family Guy.....14 (10.37%)

Clerks.....7 (5.19%)

Critic.....6 (4.44%)

Flintstones.....4 (2.96%)

God, The Devil, and Bob....2 (1.48%)

Baby Blues.....1 (.74%)

Top Cat.....1 (.74%)

Other.....3 (2.22%)

I didn't include THE SIMPSONS among the choices because I felt they were win in a walk. With that show out of the running, and not being as fond of JONNY QUEST as many of you, I cast my vote for BULLWINKLE.

******

The current TONY POLLS include questions on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek or Star Wars, and a host of comic-book queries. If you haven't yet voted, you'll find a handy link to the questions elsewhere on this page.

ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.

ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.

TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?

THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.

FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?

FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.